A Personal Recommendation

One of the issues that watch owners eventually have to deal with concerns servicing our beloved timepieces. I often wonder if the many folks who either purchase or were given nice watches realize that, like any type of engine powered machine, they need regular maintenance. In particular, if anyone has ever recently gone through the process of getting a mechanical/automatic watch serviced, you already know that it can be an expensive proposition. Furthermore, and really more importantly, the jeweler must be skillful. "Good Enough" when fixing/servicing a watch is never good enough-it has to be right on the money every time or why wear it? With this in mind, I'd like to relate an experience I just had with my jeweler. I recently purchased the Pobeda that you see posted above. It was a very inexpensive old watch, (yes I collect vintage watches too-they are some of the best buys out there), and ran me all of nine dollars. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting miracles when it came to performance or accuracy and I wasn't surprised by what I wound up with. Put simply, the watch was unusably inaccurate to the tune of being fast by over ten minutes a day.

I was originally thinking about using the watch as a test mule to hone my own watch repair skills when I decided to let my jeweler take a shot at regulating this old beast. I figured that he would just laugh and tell me to forget about it. To make a long story short Rafayel of Watch Station, the jeweler in question, not only regulated the Pobeda to less than 15 seconds deviation a day but also did it as a favor to me for all of the business I have given him. That kind of service is something I rarely encounter these days. (To properly appreciate what Rafayel did, the Pobeda movement in this watch is officially rated by its manufacturer as being accurate to only about a minute or so a day: really nothing to write home about at all) Watch Station has serviced several other watches for me, from minor adjustments to a full rebuild of an ETA powered Swiss automatic, and always without a hitch and at very reasonable prices. To put it simply, if you live in the New York City area and need a watch fixed correctly and affordably, go see Rafayel at Watch Station. He can be found in the Third Avenue entrance to the Lexington Avenue/53rd Street Station on the Concourse Level (one flight of stairs down between the street and the trains themselves-thus the name "Watch Station") His store is located inside the magazine kiosk next to the shoemaker's store. Don't let the humbleness of the store fool you, this guy really knows what he is doing, unlike some other jewelers whose names I will not mention. Watch Station's address is 873 3rd Avenue, Concourse Level, NYC, 10022 and can be reached at 212-421-2749. Say that Ed with the Pobeda recommended him.

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